Bengaluru: An eye-opening discussion on ‘Income Inequality and its Consequences’ featured prominent economists and sociologists speaking their minds on various aspects of inequality.
The discussion was organised by Citizen’s Forum, Bengaluru, and convened by former Chairman of the Legislative Council, Prof. BK Chandrashekar.
The freewheeling discussion featured renowned economist Prabhat Patnaik, who pointed out that inequality, measured in terms of the income share of the top one percent, is the highest it has been in the last 100 years.
“This share since independence had been reducing continuously until 1982. Many people say neoliberalism in India started in the 50s, but it is clear it was the 80s. This reduction has been reversed quite dramatically,” he remarked.
He concluded that India needs constitutionally guaranteed fundamental economic rights regarding education, food, universal healthcare, employment, and a non-contributory pension.
Sharing her perspective, Gita Sen, Professor Emeritus at IIM-B, said there has been ‘inequality on steroids’ since 2014. She pointed out that the average income in India is around 2.34 LPA, but that also means you’re in the 90th percentile of earners. While the bottom half of the country earn a third of the average, the 0.1% earn 23 times the average, and the top 9000 individuals earn 2069 times the average income.
“Capitalism builds on pre-existing inequalities in society like gender and caste,” she remarked.
“Karnataka is interesting because poverty fell during 1994-2005, but consumption inequality got worse. One-third of the state’s GDP comes from Bengaluru Urban. No other state has that level of concentration,” she said.
M N Panini, former Professor of Sociology at Delhi University, said it is morally repulsive that 32% of children below five years are stunted in India due to malnutrition.
“There are three aspects of inequality: corruption, degradation of public educational institutions, and the patronage system,” he said.
He noted that the Nirbhaya rape and murder was a structural failure: by maintaining an inefficient administration, politicians and administrators become patrons, and the citizens feel obliged to them. R Indira, Professor of Sociology at Mysore University, remarked that inequality is a form of deprivation and that India is among the most unequal countries.
“We have to think about how economic progress itself has caused a lot of inequality. We must not take things only at face value and glorify them,” she added.
“Violence against women, Dalits, tribals, and the LGBTQ+ population is also a form of inequality, and the race for equality is always run among unequals,” she concluded.